Serbian Americans

By Andrei Simic and John Beierle

Serbians, Srbi, Srbijanci, Servians.

The Serbs are a South Slavic people (as are the Slovenes, Croats, Macedonians, Slav Muslims and Bulgarians) who migrated to the Balkans from their ancestral home land somewhere in present-day Ukraine or Belarus during the sixth and seventh centuries. They absorbed and Slavicized much of the indigenous population which, among others, consisted of Illyrians and Thracians. The largest Serbian colonies in America are found in the industrial and mining centers of the Midwest and the Great Lakes as well as in California. Smaller numbers are also located in Arizona, Colorado, Nevada and Montana where they once played an important role in mining and small business. Among the most important communities are those in Chicago, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee, San Francisco, and Los Angeles. A significant number of Serbs have also settled in Toronto, Canada.

It is difficult to estimate how many Serbs have migrated to the United States since immigration records prior to World War I either categorized them with other South Slavic groups or identified them in terms of their regions or countries of origin. Thus, at the time of peak immigration around the turn of the twentieth century they were variously listed as Serbs, Bulgars, Croats, Dalmatians, Bosnians, Herzegovinians, Montenegrins, or Austrians and Hungarians. Compared to many other European ethnic groups in America, the Serbs are relatively small in number. The best estimate is between 175,000 and 300,000. However, far fewer are actively involved in Serbian cultural and religious life, and there is a relatively high level of out-marriage.

The Serbs speak several dialects of Serbo-Croatian, a South Slavic language which they share with the Croats and Slav Muslims of Bosnia-Herzegovina. However, unlike the Croats and Muslims who employ the Latin alphabet, the Serbs, like the other Eastern Orthodox Slavs, write in Cyrillic characters. While immigrant parents have maintained Serbo-Croatian as a household language, their children tend to have a passive rather than an active knowledge of it, and by the third generation the language has been effectively lost. There has been a tendency on the part of the better educated immigrants following World War II to encourage the more extensive use of Serbo-Croatian and to introduce a more contemporary language.

During the early part of the l9th century, a small number of Serbs settled along the Gulf Coast, especially in the area of New Orleans. Two decades later, others began migrating to the West in the period immediately after the Gold Rush of l849. These came largely from areas near the Adriatic Coast--Dalmatia, the Montenegrin littoral (especially the Bay of Kotor), and Herzegovina. Although they were largely of peasant origin, very few chose to pursue agriculture. Rather they were drawn to mining, or established small businesses such as saloons, restaurants, and grocery stores. By the end of the century, Serbian colonies had been established in, among other places, San Francisco and the rural counties of the Sierra Nevada foothills where gold mining and the timber industry provided work. During this same period, many Serbs were also attracted to mining towns in other parts of the West.

The oldest South Slav association in America, The Slavonic Illyrian Mutual Benevolent Society, was organized in San Francisco in l857, and in l880 the first purely Serbian organization, the Serbian Montenegrin Literary and Benevolent Society, was founded in the same city. In l894, the Serbs of the little Mother Lode town of Jackson, California built the first Serbian Orthodox Church in America. After 1880, the character of Serbian immigration changed radically. New settlers from the Austro-Hungarian regions of Croatia, Slavonia, Vojvodina and Lika, as well as from the interior of Montenegro, soon outnumbered the earlier immigrants from the Adriatic coastal areas. These, like their predecessors, were not attracted to agriculture, but sought employment in the steel mills of Pennsylvania, Illinois, and Ohio, in the industrial cities around the Great Lakes, and in the mines of Minnesota, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, Nevada, and Montana. During this period, the Serbs emigrated from Europe largely for economic reasons stemming from rural overpopulation, the scarcity of arable land, the lack of native industry, and a backward, cash-poor economy. Many young men also sought to escape military service in the Austro-Hungarian army. During the Balkan Wars of 1912-13 and World War I, emigration to the United States decreased significantly. In response to these conflicts, thousands of Serbian immigrant men returned to Europe to fight for their homeland, and only a few of those who survived ever came back to America. Following the wars, improved economic conditions and agrarian reform in Yugoslavia lessened the impetus for emigration. At the same time, the restrictive United States immigration laws of the l920s awarded the Yugoslavs extremely low quotas. The Great depression of the l930s had a similar negative impact on emigration from the Balkans. Nevertheless, small numbers of Serbs continued to arrive in America until the outbreak of World War II halted all immigration.

Following the war, Serbian immigration assumed an entirely new character. Under the Displaced Persons Act of l948 and the Refugee Act of l953, more than 50,000 Yugoslavs arrived in this country, many of them Serbs. In contrast to earlier immigrants who had been largely rural and uneducated, many of the new arrivals were political refugees and displaced persons who tended to be better educated, more urban, and from more diverse areas of Yugoslavia. Many were former officers in the Royal Yugoslav Army or members of the pro-Royalist Chetniks who had fought against both the Nazis and Tito's communist Partisans. Still others had been taken to Germany during the war as forced labor. These newcomers not only introduced new cultural forms, but also injected elements of "old-country" politics that were not always congenial to the older settlers. Nevertheless, these postwar immigrants were rather quickly integrated into Serbian American life, with many of them marrying American-born Serbs. Unlike most of the early immigrants, many of these were from Serbia proper, and spoke the eastern EKAVIAN dialect of Serbo-Croatian in contrast to the western JEKAVIAN speech employed by most American Serbs. Also, the language of these newcomers was less influenced by English, had a broader and more contemporary vocabulary and literary style, and soon dominated the Serbian American media. Another significant influence of these anti-communist emigres was the counteracting of earlier socialist trends among Serbian immigrants who had played a very active role in the American union movement.

During the l960s, 70s, and 80s, there was a relatively small but steady flow of Serbian immigrants, for the most part, skilled and educated persons, seeking both better economic opportunities and escape from the authoritarian Yugoslav Marxist regime. With the outbreak in l991 of the Yugoslav civil war, there began a modest migration to the United States and Canada of refugees fleeing the chaos in their native land. Among the most significant of these were large numbers of intellectuals and professionals, the so-called "brain drain".

While the majority of Serbs continue to live in or near the areas of original immigrant settlement, educational, occupational and social mobility have contributed to increased spatial dispersion with movement from compact central-city ethnic enclaves to middle-class suburban neighborhoods. Thus, many Serbian institutions, such a churches and cultural centers, have become essentially ceremonial centers no longer surrounded by a corresponding ethnic population. New churches, clubs, halls and other institutions now tend to be constructed in outlying and suburban areas which, although not centers of compact Serbian American populations, correspond to the middle-class self-image held by most American Serbs.

Prior to World War II, the majority of Serbian Americans were largely employed in industry, mining, other blue-collar occupations, or in small business enterprises. A notable exception was in California where a number of Serbs, in such areas as the San Joaquin and Santa Clara Valleys, successfully engaged in agriculture, largely in the cultivation of grapes and other fruits. The social and economic position of Serbian Americans changed rapidly in the years following World War II when large numbers became college and university graduates and/or turned to a variety of larger-scale business enterprises. Thus, by this time the Serbs were represented in almost the total spectrum of American occupations.

The Serbs, when possible, tend to patronize businesses and services owned by their own coethnics. These businesses tend to cater almost exclusively to a Serbian clientele (principally, food stores, restaurants, bars, and music shops).

The turn-of-the-twentieth century immigrants came from an intensely patriarchal culture in which male authority tended to be absolute within large, patrilocal extended families. Thus, the sexual division of labor was very pronounced. These customs and values persisted within the migrating generation, but were not readily adopted by their children. While men of this era worked at heavy labor, women were almost entirely charged with the rearing of children and all domestic tasks. Since this migration tended to be disproportionately male, a number of Serbian families ran boarding houses the major responsibility for which fell largely to the women of the household. Since World War II, the more urban and better educated immigrants have tended to be less patriarchal in world view and thus more egalitarian in terms of family life. Similarly, second and third generation American-born Serbs have generally adopted the egalitarian gender values of mainstream, middle-class Americans while still retaining a strong collective familial ethos.

The vast majority of Serbian Americans, even during the early periods of immigration, strove to acquire their own homes, land, and/or businesses. While very few of the turn-of-the-century immigrants maintained strong ties to their peasant land holdings in Europe, a number of more recent immigrants have retained ownership of land and houses in former Yugoslavia which they (and their relatives and friends) utilize regularly, often during prolonged yearly visits. Such individuals can be categorized to varying degrees as transnationals or binationals.

Kinship and family play central roles in Serbian American society. Many individuals consider even relatives removed by a dozen links "close kin." While the large patrilocal extended families (ZADRUGAs) which were once typical of much of rural Yugoslavia did not reproduce themselves in the American context, much of the reciprocal, communal, patrilineal ideology associated with them has survived in the New World. For example, rules of exogamy forbidding marriage between even very distantly related agnates are still generally observed as are prohibitions against marriage between families related through ritual sponsorship at baptism and marriage (KUMSTVO). A strong remanent of Serbian patrilineal descent groups is reflected in the continued celebration by most families of the SLAVA, the commemoration of a patriline saint inherited from father to son, an observance said to have originated when each patriline converted from paganism to Eastern Orthodoxy, a ritual clearly reflecting a Christianized form of ancestor worship. Among Serbian Americans even distant relatives tend to maintain very close ties, often traveling thousands of miles to attend important ritual events and crisis rites.

The traditional Serbian kinship system generally stresses the distinction between agnatic and uterine kin as well as containing a large number of specific terms for the various affinal relationships. For example, the classification of parents' siblings is bifurcate collateral for males and lineal for females.In harmony with this mode of categorization, the spouses of uncles and aunts derive their affinal kinship terms from that of their husbands and wives. Among the Serbs in former Yugoslavia, especially in village settings, dozens of kinship terms were in everyday usage. In contrast, among American-born Serbs the kinship system has been reduced to a few residual terms, almost exclusively those applying to family members, uncles and aunts, and fictive kin. Most commonly employed, even among those who otherwise speak no Serbo-Croatian, are the terms for father, mother, grandfather, grandmother, and godparents. Otherwise, English terminology has generally replaced the more complex Serbian system.

At the beginning of the twentieth century immigrants often sent for "mail-order brides" from their native villages, since males initially outnumbered females during this early period of settlement. At this time, arranged marriages were generally the rule in Serbian village society as was patrilocal residence. However, although these early first-generation settlers attempted to control the courtship and marriages of their American-born children, these practices were resisted and quickly disappeared. Moreover, ethnic exogamy became increasingly common over the generations. This has resulted, on the one hand, in the assimilation of the descendants of Serbian immigrants into the ethnically undifferentiated American mainstream, and, on the other, in the recruitment of non-Serbian spouses into the ethnic community.

The majority of Serbian American households are of the nuclear or three-generational variety. The large patrilocal extended families of the Balkans could not be replicated in the American setting. However, it is not uncommon for elderly Yugoslav- born Serbs to live with their married or single American-born children. Similarly, intergenerational relationships are extremely strong and based on an ethos of mutual respect phrased in terms of affectual, economic, and ritual reciprocity.

Among the Serbs in former Yugoslavia, especially in rural settings, inheritance of land and other property was almost exclusively patrilineal with daughters usually receiving only a dowry of household goods at marriage. In contrast, Serbs in the United States almost universally follow American inheritance practices and laws.

While the socialization of children generally conforms to middle-class American practices, there is a strong stress on family and kinship solidarity including attempts to instill a sense of pride in ancestral culture. In addition to family influences, the Serbian Orthodox Church plays a very important role in the inculcation of ethnic traditions and values.

A variety of voluntary associations have contributed to the maintenance of Serbian identity in America. During the early period of settlement, fraternal and mutual-aid societies played a salient role in helping immigrants adjust to life in the New World. For example, in l901, the Serbian National Union was founded in McKeesport, Pennsylvania, and subsequently grew into the largest Serbian association in America (renamed the Serbian National Federation and based in Pittsburgh). Such organizations fulfilled a great need for their members who were largely miners and industrial workers, providing benefits for those incapacitated in accidents as well as burial expenses. In more recent times, with the availability of social security, retirement plans, and the like, such societies have increasingly promoted a spectrum of social, cultural, educational, and sports activities nation-wide. A notable accomplishment of the Serbian National Federation is the publication of the largest Serbian newspaper in the United States, the bilingual American Srbobran. With the dissolution of Yugoslavia in l991, the Srbobran perceived its major role as defending Serbian interests in an attempt to counteract what was perceived as an anti-Serbian bias in the Western media. In the 1990s, as the result of the ensuing civil war in former Yugoslavia, other organizations of a political nature were founded with the goal of representing Serbian political interests in America. Prominent among these is The Serbian Unity Congress and Serb Net.

Family, kinship, and community pressures combined with the somewhat exclusive nature of Serbian colonies in America have exerted considerable pressure for conformity to ethnic norms. Moreover, information and gossip circulate quite quickly through a network of informal and formal contacts among the Serbs from all parts of America, facilitated in part by the relatively small size of the ethnically active population.

The Serbs, compared to many other ethnic groups, have experienced relatively little discrimination in America., for the majority of Americans appear to be unfamiliar with the Serbs in any specific terms.

Since the close of World War II, the issue of communism in former Yugoslavia has periodically caused considerable controversy among American Serbs, the most serious case of which was the l963 schism in the Serbian Orthodox Church in America, a conflict that was finally resolved by a reconciliation between the two factions in l991. Of particular impact has been the civil war in former Yugoslavia which, since its outbreak in l991, has had the effect of politically activating American Serbs as well as raising ethnic consciousness.

Among Serbian Americans the single most meaningful institution and the most important center of community life has always been the Serbian Orthodox Church. Whether one interprets this in a religious sense, an historical sense, or a cultural sense, Orthodoxy remains the primary marker of Serbian ethnic identity. Thus, to be Serbian is to be Orthodox. Since the Serbs continue to observe the Julian calendar, with the sometimes exception of Easter, all other religious holidays fall thirteen days later than in the Roman Catholic and Protestant Churches. As in other Slavic Orthodox Churches, the liturgy is usually performed in Old Church Slavonic, although English has also been introduced in parts of the service in many parishes. The Serbs continue to regard the celebration of the patriline patron saint, the slava, as a uniquely Serbian ritual and of equal importance to Easter and Christmas.

While relatively few American-born Serbs can speak Serbo-Croatian fluently, and even fewer can read the Cyrillic alphabet, other aspects of ethnic culture have flourished. For instance, sacred, concert, and popular folk music play an unusually significant role. Since the Orthodox Liturgy is exclusively chanted and sung, almost all Serbian churches have choirs. Similarly, most parishes also support folk music and dance groups as well as religious and cultural study classes. Social events, be they religious holidays, picnics, or even golf tournaments, are regarded as incomplete if there is not at least one folk musical ensemble present. At the same time, the influence of American culture is also evident in the emergence in the late l980s of "Serbian rock," a syncretic blend of traditional Balkan styles and Western pop music.

Among the various expressive art forms found among Serbian Americans can be mentioned the composers of traditional epic poetry, poets and writers focusing on ethnic themes, and artists and icon painters. Women, especially those born in former Yugoslavia, continue to produce a variety of traditional handicrafts such as embroidery. Since hospitality is a central value in Serbian culture, native cuisine is extensively cultivated and elaborated in the American context.

While some folk practices persevere among the older generation, especially the use of herbal remedies, Serbian Americans are almost entirely dependent on mainstream medicine.

The standard Eastern Orthodox beliefs about death and afterlife are elaborated by a variety of folk beliefs and practices. For instance, many hold that until the forty-day memorial service (PARASTOS) is held, messages can be given to the recently deceased to convey to the long dead. The custom of leaving offerings of food, liquor, or even cigarettes on the graves of the departed is still practiced by some Serbs in America.

Documents referred to in this section are included in this eHRAF collection and are referenced by author, date of publication, and eHRAF document number.

The North American Serbs file consists of ten English language documents dealing with a wide range of ethnographic topics. Cultural assimilation and adaptation to mainline American society, as well as the maintenance of Serbian ethnic identity are discussed to some extent in nearly all the works in this file, but are given special attention in Padgett 1989 no. 1, Simic 1983, no. 6, Padgett 1980, no. 7, and Matejec 1980, no. 3. An excellent study of the Serbian American community in the San Francisco Bay Area for the period of 1918-1980s, is found in Vucinich 1983, no.10. This document discusses Serbian immigration to the area, the culture history of the region, socio-political organization, literary activities, and the effects of the European "wars of liberation" on the Serbian American population. Brkich's work 1980, no. 2, describes the origin, development, activities, and significance of various Serbian organizations in the United States, with particular emphasis on the Serbian Mutual Aid Societies. The three publications in this file by Simic, one of the leading authorities on the Serbs, deal with the concept of aging in Serbian American society (Simic 1978, no. 4), the institution of SLAVA or "baptismal glorification" (Simic 1989, no. 5), and the Serbian family (Simic 1983, no. 6). The study by Vrga 1975, no. 8, presents an in-depth analysis of the various factors promoting ethno-religious factionalism in the Serbian Orthodox Church in America in the early 1960s. Gakovich 1992, no. 9, presents a bibliography of documents on Serbian life in the United States and Canada up to 1990. His work also contains a list of Serbian newspapers and periodicals which are active or no longer active in the field of publication for the period of 1869-1990. This document also contains a directory of Serbian churches and monasteries in the United States and Canada. The time coverage for this file extends from the late nineteenth century to the 1980s. For more detailed information on the contents of the individual works in this file, see the abstracts in the citations preceding each document.

The culture summary was written by Andrei Simic in October, 1996. The synopsis and indexing notes were prepared by John Beierle in October, 1996.

• DRUSTVO -- mutual aid societies -- categories 575, 456

• Greek-Russian-Slavonic Orthodox Church and Benevolent Society -- categories 794, 747

• KOLOS -- voluntary organizations closely associated with Serbian Orthodox parishes -- categories 575, 794

• KUMSTVO -- godparenthood -- category 608

• lodges -- mutual benefit societies -- categories 575, 456

• PORODICA -- the nuclear family -- category 594

• sojourners -- immigrants who plan only a temporary residence in the United States -- category 167

• SOKOL -- an athletic club -- categories 529, 575

• VAMILIJA -- the "clan" -- categories 613, 614

• ZADRUGA -- the extended family -- categories 596, 592

Grecic, Vladimir. Seoba Srba Nekad i Sad (The Migrations of the Serbs Then and Now). Belgrade: Institut za Medjunarodnu Politiku i Privredu i Matica Srba i Iseljenika Srbije, 1990

Hammel, Eugene A. "Serbo-Croatian Kinship Terminology. "IN: Kroeber Anthropological Papers 16:45-73. 1957

Petrovich, Michael B. and Joel Halpern. "Serbs." IN: Harvard Encyclopedia of American Ethnic Groups, edited by Stephen Thernstrom. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1980. Pp. 916-926.

Simic, Andrei. "Machismo and Cryptomatriarchy: Power, Affect and Authority in the Contemporary Yugoslav Family." Ethos 11 (1/2); 66-86. 1983.